"His extraordinary journey had taken him from his birthplace in Burma along one of the world's deadliest refugee trails to India, then to Britain and on to Bowral in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, which became his home.

"White Butterflies is his autobiography. It is an inspiring and candid account of a young boy's wartime struggle for survival, his journey to manhood and the characters and dark secrets he encountered during his quest for a place in the world.

"As the children of a 'new Australian', we knew nothing of Dad's early life or his epic trek until he prepared to return to Burma for the first time in 1982. Only then did he begin to tell the moving story of his boyhood adventures.

"He does not dwell on the past. Yet whenever he is asked how he would describe himself, Dad always shrugs lightly and says, 'I am a refugee. That's what I am."